Published By: Rohit Chatterjee

Border-Gavaskar Trophy: From 36 All-out to Winning the Series, an Indian Fightback Worth Recalling

One of the worst hours of embarrassment, the Indian batting line-up fell and how

The December of 2020 is a period that no Indian cricket fan wants to recall. After all, this was the period when Indian cricket hit a new low in its decades of history. The first Test match in front of the Adelaide crowd turned out to be humiliating for Virat Kohli & co. as the batting line-up in the second innings was bundled in merely 36 runs by the Aussie bowling attack. However, by the end of the series, India scripted a historic fightback that is worth recalling every day, especially when the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is knocking on our doors.

Decent first innings

India’s first innings painted a different picture from the team’s second innings. Batting first, India posted a decent score of 244 on the board. Then captain Virat Kohli scored 74 runs in 180 balls, which included eight fours, whereas Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane scored 43 and 42 runs, respectively.

From the bowling front, Australia’s Mitchell Starc claimed four wickets, whereas Pat Cummins scalped three.

Restricting the Aussies

Australia’s first innings with the bat didn’t bear much fruit, as nine batsmen couldn’t score above 15 runs. Only the then-captain Tim Paine added 73, whereas Marcus Labuschagne scored 47 to help Australia post 191 runs.

Team India ensured an upper hand in the first innings.

The fall-out

4, 9, 2, 0, 4, 0, 8, 4, 0, 4, and 1—yes, you read it correctly. That’s the scoreline of the Indian batting line-up in the second innings as Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins went on a rampage against every single Indian batter. Hazlewood had claimed five wickets, whereas Pat Cummins had picked four.

While the home crowd of Adelaide loved the show, Indians in the stands had no option but to run out of the stadium after witnessing the horror show. There was nothing left but the bleak home where the Indians could turn the game in their favour. However, Australia, in the second innings, scored 93 for two and won the game by eight wickets.

The fightback

Well, after the first-game horror show, Australia was expected to keep their gas on the pedal, but a determined Indian side had other plans. Revenge was the battle cry, and the Indian side played well in the second to win the game by eight wickets.

Ajinkya Rahane smacked 112, whereas the duo of Bumrah and Ashwin picked four and three wickets, respectively, in the first innings. In the second, it was Siraj who struck the Aussies by claiming three crucial wickets.

Moving on to the third game, the Aussies also got back on their feet, realising India wasn’t to be taken lightly despite their embarrassing defeat in the first game. Therefore, the third game saw both teams battling it out till the end to only settle with a draw as the series hung in the balance.

Finally, in the fourth match, India won the title decider, thanks to a collective effort. Against Australia’s 369 in the first innings, Rohit scored 44, Cheteshwar added 25, Ajinkya made 37, Mayank hit 38, Pant scored a quick 23, and the lower order of Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur scored 62 and 67, respectively, taking the score to 336.

In the second innings, Australia was restricted to 291, whereas Gill and Pujara scored 91 and 56, respectively, followed by a brilliant 89 by Pant. These three crucial innings helped India seal a historic victory over Australia after getting all out in 36 runs in the first game.

That day, India gave an essential message to the cricketing world, i.e., one can hand India an embarrassing defeat on a particular day, but one can never write off the prowess of Indian cricket.